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Iffy:

How will the persistent world actually work?

Last week, we had a chance to check out the single-player campaign in SEGA's Chromehounds, the first mech game for the Xbox 360. It looks like the type of game that will be enjoyed equally by both hardcore mech gamers and those (such as yours truly) that have little experience with the genre. However, like many titles in the Xbox family, the single-player game is only a part of the overall experience. The game also features a robust multiplayer mode, allowing up to 12 players to do battle in a variety of environments. Most importantly, if the yelling and name-calling during our session was any indication, the multiplayer action is just about as fun as it gets.

As was the case with the single-player game, you'll be able to select from 6 different Role Types, each one offering a different style of play. These RTs are essentially character classes, meaning that you'll be able to choose to play as a Sniper, a Soldier, a Heavy Gunner, and so on. However, while the single-player game basically tossed you into unique battles that were tailored for your particular RT, the multiplayer mode is more of a squad-based affair, rewarding those teams that are well-rounded and that communicate well with each other. For instance, a squad might send a powerful Defender Hound in first to engage the enemy at close range while the Snipers lay back and pepper their foes from afar. It may seem like a no-brainer to work as team, but we all know that Xbox Live isn't exactly a haven for team play.

While Chromehounds offers many of the same game types that we've seen in just about every other multiplayer-enabled game, there are also a number of cool variations. In addition to standards like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, you'll be able to take part in Break All (in which your team will be tasked with destroying objects around the map), Survival (the last mech standing wins), and Keep the Flag (the winner will be the one that holds it the longest). Of course, there are Team and Solo variants of each game type. Our favorite was COMBAS Keeper, in which your team must capture and hold communication towers. This might sound like your garden variety Domination game, but there's an interesting twist: you can't communicate with your team unless you're in range of one of your captured COMBAS. If you lose contact with them, you'll know that something bad is going down.

Combat will take place in a wide variety of environments, each of which will require squads to alter their game plans accordingly. For instance, the flat, expansive Plains seem to favor Snipers and Heavy Gunners, both of which can take down enemies from a distance. The Bay environment, on the other hand, features a number of buildings and boats around a harbor, and the quick Scouts can use the urban cover to their advantage. The coolest was the nighttime Factories (some environments features night and day variants) area, in which gunfire lit up the night sky and players blew up silos and large gas tanks, taking out any enemies that were unfortunate enough to be nearby. As we mentioned in the single-player preview, the nighttime levels look fantastic, featuring some truly impressive lighting effects.